Persona 5: Royal remixes everything from the original version, adding new features, improved systems, and loads of balancing changes. But, this is still (mostly) the same Persona 5 — and whether you’re a new player or a returning Phantom Thief looking for one final score, we’ve collected 9 important tips you’ll want to keep in mind for this return trip to Tokyo.
These 9 tips are all about making the most out of your time. I’m trying to avoid direct spoilers, but there are some allusions to future events in the guide below, so you might want to avoid if you’re looking for a totally pure first run. Just take your time, save often, and spend time with your favorite characters. You can’t go wrong, even if the game gets difficult at times.
If you’re looking for something more specific, check out the extremely handy tips in the full guide — you can increase your free time with a certain confidant, hoard SP restoring items, improve your Baton Pass level, and much more.
Persona 5: Royal guides:
How To Unlock The New Palace | How To Get The Bad Ending & True Ending | All Classroom Questions & Answers | New Exams Guide
#1: In the real world, search for Vending Machines that sell SP restoring drinks — then stock up! These machines refill every Monday, so you’ll want as many SP restoratives as you can get. The more SP you have, the faster you can complete palaces.
#2: Palaces are on a time-limit. Use your save slots wisely — save at the start of a new story event and keep that save just incase. You can’t return to a palace once you complete it, so make sure to scrounge every item and Will Seed before leaving.
#3: Ranking up your Teacher Confidant is important! During your free time, you can talk to different people — the more you visit, the more your social link will increase. For the teacher, the higher your rank, the more extra free time slots you’ll have. You can max rank by the end of July. Ranking her up allows you to visit the Palace and still have free time at night, or craft items in class. You’ll even get an option to create SP restoring items!
#4: Speaking of useful Confidants, visit Maruki, the school counselor, as often as you can if you’re looking for a new experience in the third semester. Reach Rank 9 before completing the second semester story events for a remixed experience.
#5: In Persona 5: Royal, Baton Pass is unlocked for all playable characters right away. You won’t have to unlock it. Baton Pass allows you to swap to different characters after earning an extra move following a Critical Hit or Weakness. Visit the new Kichijoji are and play darts with friends to increase the benefits of Baton Pass.
#6: You don’t need to craft ammo anymore. Guns now automatically replenish bullets between battles, so you can let loose and spend more time upgrading your weapons at the gun shop — which unlocks later in the game. Upgrading guns to add status effects can be a useful way to plug gaps in your Persona elemental attacks.
#7: There’s a new character named Jose stalking the strange land of Mementos. This (mostly) optional randomly-generated dungeon can be used to level up, and now you can upgrade a special shop by trading in collectibles called Flowers and Star Stamps. Make sure to check every floor carefully! And don’t miss the Will Seeds in each palace — find all three to unlock special abilities based on the bosses.
#8: Bring a wide variety of elemental attacks! When first entering a Palace, your first goal is to discover each enemy’s weakness. If you enhance your Social Link with Akechi, you can gain an ability to randomly reveal enemy weaknesses at the start of a battle. Learning weaknesses is critical to success in Persona 5!
#9: Don’t waste your time! After unlocking a new Palace, try to secure a route to the treasure ASAP — in as few nights as possible. Hoarding SP items and increasing your Social Link with the Doctor will help. Once you reach the target, you can use all your time increasing your other Social Links. Don’t forget that certain Social Link ranks are progression locked, so if you visit a character often and don’t see any improvement, you might’ve maxed them out for the time being.
More Persona 5 guides:
Beginner’s Guide | 5 Tips to Get Started | How to Beat Shadow Madarame | Boss Guide | How to Beat Shadow Kaneshiro | Boss Guide | How to Beat Cognitive Wakaba | Boss Guide | How to Get Good & Bad Endings | All Quiz / Test Answers | Cheat Sheet | PS4 Trophy List